This Magnus Carlsen graphic hangs in the tournament hall, along with those of the other seven competitors

Magnus
Carlsen continued his ascent to the chess summit with a narrow win of the
London Chess Classic after Vladimir Kramnik's attempt to catch the young
Norwegian in the final round was thwarted by Hikaru Nakamura.

Carlsen's
was the last game to finish, in front of an enthusiastic crowd (slightly down
on the weekend sell-outs). Carlsen had been trying to wear down veteran Nigel
Short (who had earlier lost a 163 mover to Luke McShane in the first round) but
almost lost, eventually hanging onto a draw after 71 moves. "I almost had you
there," said Short as the players shook hands with only kings left on the
board. Carlsen could only agree - he had had to find a series of only moves in
a queen ending to survive.

Carlsen
had also confirmed his position at the top of the world; on January 1 he will
officially become the youngest ever world number one. Carlsen had not looked
convincing after his brilliant first two rounds yet still had a tournament
performance rating well above 2800.

However
the crowds were not able to cheer Carlsen's triumph; Carlsen was awarded his
winner's trophy at a private dinner for dignitaries and politicians at
Simpsons, far away from the fans and the press at the Olympia venue. It was as
if the Wimbledon organizers had moved straight to the Wimbledon Ball without
bothering to award the trophy to Roger Federer on centre court.

This
was a bizarre and disappointing end to what was otherwise a brilliantly organized
tournament by new impresario Malcolm Pein - who intends to trump the current
event by hosting the 2012 World Championship match between Topalov and Carlsen.
(You read it here first!)

For
Hikaru Nakamura, his first super-tournament turned into an initiation of fire.

Having
survived the first four rounds against most of the top ranked opposition,
Nakamura had clearly set himself up for a big finish against the tournament's
two lowest rated players, Luke ‘Warm' McShane and David Howell.

However
the one rule of super-tournaments is that even the ‘weak' players in the field
are not weak at all and deserve respect. In a pre-tournament interview,
Nakamura had admitted that McShane had shown considerable talent before he took
time off to pursue a banking career but from his body language during this game,
Nakamura was clearly expecting to score his first win against the part-timer.

Opening:
King's Indian Defence

1.d4
Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Be2 0-0 6.Nf3 e5 7.0-0 Na6 8.Be3 Ng4 9.Bg5 Qe8
10.c5 exd4 11.Nd5 Be6!?
Not a
new move, but certainly unusual. Previously it had been thought necessary for
Black to try 11...Qxe4 but if the text move is playable then Black's task in
this tricky line is much easier than had been thought. 12.Be7
1.31
The
critical line, though McShane confessed that he couldn't actually remember what
he had prepared against it! 12.cxd6 Bxd5 13.exd5 cxd6 does not offer much for
White. 12...Bxd5
1.46 13.Bxf8 Qxf8
The
GMs in the commentary room were advocating 13...Kxf8! 14.exd5 Nxc5 with the
idea that 15.Nxd4 can be met by 15...Ne3! 16.Ne6+ Qxe6!. 14.exd5
dxc5 15.Qb3 Rb8 16.Rfe1
The
first new move; previously 16.Rac1 had been tried, without success. 16...Qd6
1.18 17.h3 Nf6 18.Bxa6?!
McShane
believed that 18.a3!? was the only way for White to play for advantage, by
keeping the a6 knight out of the game. McShane analyzed 18...b5!? 19.Bxb5! c6
20.dxc6 Nc7 21.a4 a6 22.Ne5! axb5 (22...Qf8!) 23.Qxf7+ Kh8 24.axb5 and believed
that White would have plenty of compensation for the piece. (In fact he is
close to winning.) 18...Qxa6
19.Rac1 Bf8 20.Ne5 Qb6 21.Qf3
McShane
was more worried about 21.d6!? Qxb3 22.dxc7! Rc8 23.axb3 when 23...Rxc7 can be
answered by 24.b4!. If Black could stabilize, prevent the b4 break and take the
c7 pawn he would stand well, but this is not easy to achieve. 21...Qd6
22.g4 0.33 22...Bh6 0.28 23.Rc2 Re8 24.Rce2 Rf8 25.Nc4 Qxd5 26.Qxf6 Bg7
27.Qh4?! 0.28
This
attack does not seem to lead anywhere. McShane believed that White's threats
would have been more potent after 27.Qf4 Qxc4 28.Re8 "Then I was just
going to grab the a2 pawn and hope for the best," McShane admitted. 27...Qxc4
28.Re8 Qd5 29.Rxf8+ Bxf8 30.Re8 Kg7 05.35 31.g5
Placing
pawns on dark squares could come back to haunt White, but at this stage
Nakamura was playing by feel and fast, looking to hustle McShane into a
mistake. 31...Qd6
32.Kf1
McShane
regarded 32.Qe4 b6 33.Qe5+ Qxe5 34.Rxe5 a5 as a probable draw; Black can put
his bishop on d6 and hold everything, but making progress seems unlikely. 32...b5
33.Ke1 c4 34.Qe4 c5 35.h4 c3
Rather
too impetuous, but in time trouble McShane had decided that if White had no
threats he would push his pawns at every opportunity. 36.bxc3
dxc3 37.Qe5+ Qxe5+ 38.Rxe5 a5 39.Kd1
It is
probable that Nakamura was still hoping for a win hereabouts, as 39.Re8 a4
40.Ra8 seems a lot safer. 39...a4
40.a3!? 1.07 40...b4 41.Kc2 h6 0.28 42.Rd5 1.05
Despite
the time control having been reached, White was still barreling along, but now
his drawing chances start fading fast. White should have played 42.Re8 hxg5
43.hxg5 Bd6 44.Ra8 b3+ 45.Kxc3 Be5+ 46.Kd2 c4 47.Rxa4 c3+ 48.Kc1 but Nakamura,
in his mind's eye, had forgotten that he was now covering the f4 square and
that 48...Bf4+ doesn't now win. In fact Black can try 48...Bd6! when White is
almost in zugzwang, but not quite - he can still defend with 49.Kb1. 42...hxg5
43.hxg5 Kh7!
Suddenly
the threat of 44...Bg7 and 45...b3+ becomes potent. 44.Rd7?!
44.axb4
cxb4 looks dangerous because now 45.Ra5 loses prettily to 45...Bb4+!. However
White can still fight with 45.Rb5 a3 46.Kb3 when McShane thought he could
probably still win but it would not be easy. Certainly this was Nakamura's last
chance to hold the game, but his heart no longer seemed to be in it. 44...Bg7
45.Rxf7 b3+ 0.14 46.Kb1 0.56 46...Kg8 47.Ra7 Bd4 48.Rxa4 Kf7
Simple
chess - once the Black king enters the game, resistance is futile. 49.Ra6
Be5 50.Ra4 Ke6 51.Rh4 Kd5 52.a4 c4 53.Rh1 c2+ 54.Kc1 c3 55.Rh4 Bd6 0-1

"I
deserved to lose this game," admitted Nakamura later. "I simply lost to his
preparation and he played well. OK, he also misplayed the ending and gave me a
chance to draw."

The
next dayNakamura came up against the bottom seed Howell but the
hangover from the previous day hung heavily and his winning tries were easily
rebuffed.

On the
final day Nakamura had a chance to finish with a flourish, playing with the
White pieces against Kramnik.

So
Nakamura finished his first super-tournament with six draws and one loss.

"I
don't know how to feel," Nakamura admitted. I am confused. I held my own
against the top two players, which is a good sign for the tournaments ahead
[the World Team Championship and Wijk aan Zee]. I could have scored +1 or 2 but
it could also have been -2.

"My
loss to McShane was the only blemish on a good tournament. I am not thrilled
with the result but also not as disappointed as I might have expected. I played
well but for one game and a couple of blunders. In the last two games I decided
to avoid any long thinks, which use up too much energy, and I didn't blunder."